Customer Reviews

Marco's Millions

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the best science fiction books I have ever read. It almost seems like the author experienced what's in the book.

Do you think of giant insects communicating via telepathy when you think of alternate universes? Ordinarily this reviewer wouldn't either, but after having read another of Sleator's books, The Boxes(1998), it wasn't too difficult to grasp the idea of huge bugs communicating with people in our world.
Sleator is at his best when dealing with the concepts of singularities. Closely related to black holes, singularities are astronomical phenomena that theoretically do not have the awesome destructive power of black holes, but rather, may allow some sort of travel into an infinite number of simultaneously existing universes. As one approaches a singularity, theoretically, time slows and gravity increases. It is this hypothesis which forms the basis for Sleator's prequel to The Boxes, called Marco's Millions. In the former book, the reader is introduced to Annie's rather eccentric Uncle Marco, who is away often, yet doesn't seem to age much. Marco's Millions provides more than satisfactory answers to many questions that The Boxes generates.
Wormholes, invisible tunnels to another universe, telepathic insects with their strange religious customs, and a telepathic young girl and her protective brother all work together to create an incredible--yet very believable--tale of salvation. Whether it is the salvation of our own universe and others, or simply the universe in which the insects live is not clear. But what is clear, is that Lillie, the telepathic sister who becomes the medium between the singularity (which the insects call "Our Lord") and her brother, is the savior of something. This reviewer thoroughly enjoyed the all-too-quick visit into other worlds, and marveled at the bravery of the two children who struggled to succeed with their vague mission to help save the insects' world.
Interest level: grades 5-9
Another Sleator book on a related topic: Singularity (1995)

The book Marco's Million, by William Sleator, is an excellent book. It has a very interesting plot and have likable characters such as Marco and his sister, Lilly. I also learned some new vocabulary and basic information of astronomy from this book... Anyways, I recommand people to read it. It is a good book.

In "Marco's Millions", by William Sleator, a boy named Marco enters an unnerving parallel universe to aid the creatures living there, and to save his world from destruction by a naked singularity. He is sucked into the singularity, and moves through another world, recovering an artifact that will halt the threat of the singularity. When he reaches his own world again, he is jolted to the present by finding out what has happened to his family while he was gone. This book is unusual because it doesn't have a very happy tale to tell, but it was exciting and gave me the feeling that something dark was behind my back. I liked it especially because it involed travel between universes, and possible space phenomenons, which I find interesting. I would recommend this book to kids who like a good science-fictional scare!

This is quite the science fiction book. It is very different from the other sleator book that i have read (the odd balls,a list of memoirs about his bizarre siblings)but good none the less. I have actually never red the sequel the boxes and was intrigued to find out that the boxes was actually written first. This is however not your typical science fiction book. Most scifi books are about aliens invading and robots taking over. Although this book does feature giant insect aliens they are not the main feature of the book. The book is much more focused on the concept of wormholes to other universes and the thought of slowing down time. But i will give a quick synopsis of the book. A girl named Lily discovers a strange tunnel in her basement which only she can see. However lacking bravery Lily asks her ever courageous brother Marco to go through the tunnel. Once there Marco discovers human sized insects who are obsessed with completing a bizarre ritual. Although many have died trying to win the ritual the insects believe marco could win it. This dangerous task is only the first of marco's millions of adventures within this book. I hope you enjoy for I did.

i think this is a really good book. If u like singularities outerspace and blackholes then u'll love this book. if u like this book u will love singularity.

This book was very scientifically interesting, but it left me feeling cold and barren. I think it's the worst book I've read. The characters are almost completely apathetic; especially Marco himself. He only cares about his strange and quiet sister Lilly (I have no idea why, she's really boring and unchanging). Their other three year old sister is playful and childish but is shunned by her older and (apathetic) siblings because she actually has a decent personality! I found lilly completely helpless, Marco's obsession over her mind boggling and annoying.

However I must admit that the alternate worlds and different time speeds fascinated and entranced me. But the insects themselves were also very cold and stingy, I expected at least a small bond to form between them and the main characters! Everyone seemed very selfish; only interested in what would benefit themselves.

If you're looking for a scientific wonder book with strange creatures, get this! But if you are interested in the characters and everything else a decent book should have, don't buy Marco's millions!

This was a very interesting book with many twists in it that you would not expect. It is definitely difficult to put down and you will have it read within a few hours without any problems. I did think that the ending was a little hard to believe. At the end of the book Marco is still only 12 years old and by "Boxes" he was an adult. I found it difficult to believe that he could have supported himself during that time. I think that Sleator should have put more into the ending and if he were to write a book about what happened between "Marco's Millions" and "Boxes" he would find it difficult. I really thought that the book was good all the way through until the end and you would enjoy reading it. There are definitely better books out there, some by Sleater himself. I like "Boxes" better than this book. I think that reading the book and then stopping when he finally makes it home and drawing your own conclusions would be a good idea but most people would find it hard not to find out how it really ended.